2032: Zombie Survival is a RPG set in the year 2032 and focuses on a group of gifted individuals trying to make it in a unique take on classic zombie survival.

The year is 2032 and Earth has been all but destroyed by ravening hordes of zombies in an event called "The Uprising." The surface of the planet is a desolate wasteland devoid of life and filled with all manner of terrors and toxins that make life for the everyday human all but possible. Yet, in all of this lifelessness there is a grim shimmer of hope.

In the final days of The Uprising, a benevolent corporation came forth with the answer to humanity's prayers. In a stunning display of man power and ingenious retasking, they built the Bio Domes; huge steel and glass structures the size of cities designed to keep toxins and RAC's (Reanimated Corpses) out and the salvagable elements of humanity in. This innovation, paired with the newly produced War Reaver Mobile Weapons Platform managed to halt the inexorable march of the RAC's and safeguard humanity for a time.

Many a citizen often asks if the price paid for survival was too high. The Bio Domes provide safety, but only from the terrors without. On the inside, humans face down the twin threats of starvation and violent crime almost daily, all while dealing with the now oppressive rule of GLADIUS. And somewhere in the dark of the Wastes, a new evil is emerging that threatens mankind's tenous way of life down to the last man, woman and child.

I and a friend are trying to craft a new ruleset and accompanying world to go with this general idea. The portion above is kind of the most basic introduction to the game and will kind of be the bedrock upon which we build our game. I know there are a lot of highly intelligent people on this site and there is a great interest in zombie RPG's so I thought I'd see what kind of feedback I could get and post updates as I make progress. Maybe eventually run some playtests...

This game is in its earliest of stages and could quite possibly be abandonded but I've got to run with it while I've got the drive. I guess I'll start off by outlining some of the game elements I've most clearly defined.

The Feel:
Overall, I want the world to feel very dark and bleak; kind of like every zombie survival movie you have ever seen where the group of adventurers feel like they are the last humans left on Earth. Living in a world where life is not a sure thing can make for a very interesting story, and I plan to highlight this by designing the mechanics to leave players thinking their chances are grim. Only the incredibly intelligent (and in rare cases, lucky) will survive to see the next day, and even then they have to do it all over again.

Stories:
I think that this approach to zombie survival lends itself to several specific story paths that all utilize the same mechanics, but are incredibly different in setting and offer an array of plots to GM's.

Bio Domes: This story path focuses mainly on the life of an everyday person in one of the 12 Bio Domes around the Earth. It highlights the human struggle in a confined area where millions of people who are not really policed are starving nearly to death and bubbling over with violence.

Near Wastes: This story path focuses on the life of those who either venture out of the Bio Domes or maybe lived there from the start. Regardless, the adventurers in this story are about hardy everyday citizens who travel into the relatively close Wastes around Bio Domes looking for "riches" and supplies.

Deep Wastes: This story path focuses on the life of those employed by Gladius. Whether they be soldiers, doctors, scientists, or even unlucky civilians these humans are the ones who confront the strangeness of the Wastes in their entirety. Born deep into enemy territory by the only remaining and functioning aircraft, these individuals will face the dreaded E-RAC's, hyper mutated zombies.

Characters:
My vision for a character in this game ends up being something similar to D20 Modern. The players would start out with "broad" character templates that give them a basic set of skills. As they level up they can enter into various careers that provide them with more specialised (and useful) skill sets that will increase their survival chances.

Future Iterations:
I want this game to kind of evolve into different editions that progress the canon of the world by about 10 years at a time. Under great stress humans evolve and adapt like almost no other creature can and I intend for that to be reflected in the editions. Each addition will ultimately offer higher levels, but also alternative career options.

Edition 1 is going to be the most "normal" of the editions and will restrict humans to the realm of the mostly possible, while hinting at and offering advancement options for future editions.

Edition 2 pushes the realm of the possible even further and builds on the previous edition's technology levels. Also, Edition 2 will introduce a "magic" type mechanic to the game that I am calling Psy. Also, the conflict with E-RAC's will have escalated significantly and humanity will be on the breaking point.

Edition 3 is when humanity starts to "win" and push back the boundaries of RAC territory. This is due mainly to the fact that humanity has drastically increased its technology capabilities and mastered its use of Psy; going so far as to link the two. The main focus for this game is going to be the addition of the ability to pilot the War Reaver Mobile Weapons Platform through a spiritual connection between man and machine.

Sounds interesting, but wouldn't GLADIUS prohibit non-employees from reentering the Domes if they've been into the Waste? The possibility that even one infected person could bring down an entire Dome should be enough for them to impose a draconian quarantine, and the

I like the flavor of your setting, and given the alterations that the gene pool would've gone through, rapid evolution isn't unlikely. It would be more common in the Waste, though, due to the culling of the gene pool (only the strong survive), toxins (causing genetic mutation), and inbreeding (higher chances of certain traits appearing). You might consider lengthening your editions from decades to generations to add verisimilitude; it would also add an interesting political element if only the people born post-Uprising were able to use Psy.

Starvation and crime in the Domes are spot-on, especially if GLADIUS demanded the Dome-dwellers surrender their weapons prior to entry. I imagine there'd be a lot of improvised weapons, both inside the Domes and without.

Thank you for the feedback! I was getting scared no one would respond. I definitely like the idea of stretching the time in between generations and would like to use it if that is okay with you.

As far as transit between Wastes and the Domes goes, I was thinking characters might need to obtain or already have licenses. Transitioning frim one area to the other would involve a time quarantine where subjects' symptoms will manifest before they are allowed to rejoin the general population. Possessing a license is a sign of "wealth" as holders are given access to all manner of supplies that those within the Domes are not. I think doing it like this could lead to some interesting smuggling stories.

We have narrowed down and possibly defined the core part of our mechanics and I will update them to here probably sometime tomorrow.

For our core mechanic we are going to be using a d100 system. We feel that the d100 is going to allow players the greatest degree of control over their equipment and abilities while at the same time allowing us to balance things out with easy computation of percentiles.

Ability Tests:
These tests are rolled for anything that is not combat related. Examples include bartering, jumping a small chasm, breaking a door, and deceiving someone. In these types of tests, players will roll a d100 modified by an appropriate skill group and any other modifiers the GM believes are applicable in an attempt to beat a number set by the GM based on the difficulty of the task. The higher the roll, the better the result so GM's simply have to range their tests from 1-100. 1 Being easiest, 100 being hardest.

[Dice Result]+[Ability Score] + [Misc. Modifiers]=Result

The Attack:
Attacking in our system is going to be pretty straightforward. There will be differences between ranged and melee attacks but this is generally how it is going to work.

Defence: Much like in DnD, Defence is a total reckoning of a character's or npc's ability to defend themselves. This includes but is not limited to armour, dodge, and misc. modifiers. Weapons designed for fighting defensively such as a shield can increase this further, as well as equipment designed to provide added survival.

Attacker's Modifier: This a stat generated by determining the sum of a character's ability to do damage. All weapons have a basic modifier that represents their over all lethality; from damage to accuracy and everything in between. If a player possesses the knowledge required to use this weapon effectively they receive the full benefit. If they have Mastery over the weapon they get an added bonus. If the character is not trained they simply receive no benefit when attacking. In addition to this, melee attacks receive bonuses from physical attributes. Ranged weapons can be further modified to provide a bonus as well.

Health: Health is represented as a percentile in this game. 100% means that your character is fit and healthy and 0% means that your character is dead. These numbers can be augmented by taking certain skills (I'm still working on this part) that allow you to fight below 0%, take off a static amount of damage for every hit taken, or other things besides.

End Result: I really like this method of doing things because it simplifies the rolling and calculation required to go through combat. In the long run this will allow us to include actual moves that player's can do instead of just rolling the same attack over and over.

The to hit and damage roll are worked into one dice roll. If the attacker rolls below the target's Defence, the attack is a miss or is absorbed by the target's armour depending on which of the two they are heavy in. If the attacker rolls above the target's Defence, the difference in the roll result and Defence end up being the damage caused. In this way, heavily armoured characters cannot be killed outright unless they are fired on by weapons with Devastation (Multiplier to End Result), take multiple hits (From a machinegun for instance), or are critically hit.

I started on character creation and am assembling some of the more "broad strokes" rules as I go along.

I got a little frustrated with the format I was using and it was just too hard to organize my thoughts on here. So I decided to use charts instead. I think these are more reader friendly as well.

The first page of this pdf is just a summary of what makes a character a character and the order in which those categories will be addressed.

The second page is a list of the 5 "races" available to players to pick one time only. Each race is a classification of the character's career before the Uprising and determines starting skills, equipment, and abilities.

The third page is a summary of the occupations or "classes" I have so far. What will happen eventually is there will be trees for each race that determine the occupations available to that character. After this has been selected and the character has earned xp, they can move into new occupations that are related to their first choice, gaining access to more powerful skills and abilities. You can kind of see how I will group them but there are a few exceptions and there are some occupations that you just wont get until I complete their entries.

Each "Tier" represents the character further moving into the world and control of Gladius. At first Tier the character has just entered the Bio Domes and has been classified by Gladius based on their skills. As these individuals progress and demonstrate skill, more specific and specialized careers become open to them. The third tier will have the most options and be the most complicated as far as how the occupations tie together.

On a side note I am looking for some writers to assist in fleshing out the world, occupation entries, and general writing. I'm handling most of the mechanics but experts are always appreciated. Just PM me if you are interested.

I don't have time to get too in-depth with fleshing things out, but I'll swing by from time to time to offer advice/comments.

Licensing and quarantine makes perfect sense, and should be a good fit.

The base mechanic looks like it should do well, since a GM can easily adjust things to produce the desired difficulty. I'm interested to see how you determine base attributes, since they'll prove critical to how effective the characters are. Even if you decide to go with a random method of stat generation, including a point-buy option will please the people who are frowned upon by the Stat Dice gods. As one of said people, I'm a fan of point-buy because it's no fun playing a "normal" in a party of "heroic" characters.

Sounds like zombie fall out. Could be interesting (granted, fall out had zombies of a sort, but... it depends on how you do it).

Would be even cooler if you could have your own warband or tribe. 4Xing... eh... probably not recommended? If you want it to remain gritty, players shouldn't handle all of the combat by themselves - the one thing I found silly about fall out was simply roaming the wasteland by yourself.

Of course, the thing that also made fall out 3 good was checking out all the neat dilapitated post-nuclear holocaust places, but salvaging for items and weapons got old for me.

It also depends what direction you want to take in combat. Is it going to be mostly shooty? Vehicular? Think about needs to be involved and then find a way to apply it.

•Physical Attribute:
The Physical Attribute quantifies an individual's athletic ability. This Attribute is the most related to physical combat; be it ranged or close. Examples of Apptitudes that utilize this Attribute are Scouting, Shooting, Running, Reacting, etc.. Characters with a strong Physical Attribute will have higher health, hit harder and more accurately, move faster, and be able to endure a lot more punishment in general. Former athletes, soldiers, and anyone with a career that involves physical labor will have a higher base for this.

•Social Attribute:
The Social Attribute quantifies an individual's ability in dealing with other people. This Attribute is the most related to PC's who want to intereact with the world around them. Examples of Apptiudes that utilize this Attribute are Trading, Deceiving, Leadership, etc.. Characters with a strong Social Attribute will be better at dealing with and even manipulating others. There are many ways to survive and carrying the biggest gun is not always the best. Politicians, Managers, and anyone with a career that involves dealing with people will have a higher base for this.

•Mental Attribute:
The Mental Attribute quantifies an individual's general level of intelligence. This Attribute is the most related to Scientific, Medical, and Engineering PC's. Examples of Apptitudes that utilize this Attribute are Crafting, Medical Treatment, Research, Cure, etc.. Characters with a strong Mental Attribute will be able to do the things that everyday citizens could not. These individuals were probably the Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists, and Engineers of a the Pre-Uprising world. In game terms, these individuals are not subject to existing in the world as it is during their time living off only the things they can find. They can make new things. They can change the world.

•Spiritual Attribute:
The Spiritual Attribute quantifies an individual's inner strength of character; independent of intelligence, logic, or religion. This Attribute is the most related to PC's who want to interact with the "otherside" of the world around them. Examples of Apptitudes that utilize this Attribute are Precogniscience, Luck, Fate, etc.. Characters with a strong Spiritual Attribute are less likely to fall to the horrors of living in a world such as the one in the setting. The individuals really have no defining careers so this stat will have the same base across all occupations. In game terms, these individuals use luck, fate, and will in combination to occassionally defy the realms of logic and physics. While not being able to directly do things, they find a way to succeed somehow.

Now that I have a workable base for creating a character's occupation and general idea of the Attributes involved, I have started in on the various systems that will be present in the game. Combat is a major one but I also want to do a pretty heavily important system for surviving in the day to day. This is what I have so far for survival:

Hunger, fatigue, and despair are the constant enemies of those in the world of 2032. Large populations, high crime, and the threat of RAC's force characters to constantly be on guard against these three evils and they must actively take steps to avoid death at their ever persistent hands.

Nutrition:

Nutrition is an abstract representation of a character's overall nourishment. Higher numbers indicate that a character is better off and lower numbers indicate that a character may be on the verge of starvation. In general there are 4 categories that characters fall in to, though GM's may wish to further define these:

100-81 - Well Fed | A character in this range is well fed and will consequently be more up to the challenges of life in 2032. Tests involving the Physical or Mental Attributes receive a +5 circumstance Bonus while a character is Well Fed.

80-51 - Nourished | A character in this range has sufficient Nutrition in their body to maintain strenous physical activity with no ill effects. Characters receive no modifiers to tests for being Nourished.

50-11 - Hungry | A character in this range is just beginning to feel the lack of nutrition starting to take hold. Many appear lethargic and unfocused. Tests involving Physical or Mental Attributes suffer a -5 circumstance Penalty while a character is Hungry. A character who is Hungry automatically reduces their Fatigue by 2 each day due to the inability to rest properly.

10-1 - Wasting | A character in this range is on the verge of starvation. If no action is taken, they are sure to die shortly. Tests involving Physical or Mental Attributes suffer a -15 circumstance Penalty while a character is Wasting. Additionally, they lose Nutrition at an alarming rate and should double the base daily deduction; effectively giving them only 1 day to get out of the danger zone. It should also be noted characters with this affliction halve all movement rates in addition to losing 4 Fatigue each day.

Losing Nutrition
As a general rule, the more a character does the more hungry they will become. To represent this, at the start of each day a character must determine how much Nutrition they lost from the day before using the following modifiers:

Base 5 | A character loses a minimum of 5 Nutrition every day, regardless of what activities they may have done the day before. This number may NOT be augmented by the Physical Bonus deduction.

Strenuous Activity | Characters who perform an abudance of tests using the Physical Attribute as the base ability consume Nutrition at a much faster rate. For every 10 tests using the Physical Attribute in a day, the character loses an additional 5 Nutrition.*

Combat | Everytime a character takes part in a combat, they are using up astonishing amounts of Nutrition in short gaps of time. For every combat taken place in the day before, a character loses a further 10 Nutrition.*

*Denotes that a character may deduct their Physical Bonus from the Nutrition lost. If multiple deductions are made in a category (i.e. Strenuous Activity, Combat) the Physical Bonus is deducted only once from each category.

Example

Tom wakes up to a brand new day in the Wastes. As he goes about securing his campsite, he checks over his supplies and asseses his physical condition.

The day before Tom had 60 Nutrition in his system, but late last night he was forced into a combat against the RAC's. After he fought off the first few waves, he determined that there were just too many and fled the scene, initiating a series of physical vaults, climbs, and the picking off of a few odd RAC's with his rifle, Ol' Bessy.

Tom first takes his starting Nutrition 60 and deducts the Base 5. This puts him at 55 Nutrition.

Then, he takes into account the sheer amount of physical activity he did. (10 Tests) He deducts a further 5, reduced by 2 ( his Physical Attribute is (2)5 ) equalling 3. His nutrition is now at 52.

Then, he realizes he was in a combat and deducts a further 10, reduced by 2 again. His nutrition is now at 44.

With a start, Tom feels the hunger bubbling in his stomach and familiar call of lethargy. He is now Hungry and if he does not find food soon, he will begin the slow spiral into starvation.

Replenishing Lost Nutrition
Gaining Nutrition back is a simple thing. All the character has to do is find and consume food. Every food item has a rating paired with it that is an approximation of its nutritional value ( i.e. Apple (10) ). When the character consumes the item, they replenish their Nutrition by an amount equal to the rating of the food item. Certain items are designed to sustain a human body and as such will have drastically higher ratings representing the fact that they are packed full of all the things a growing boy/girl needs.

Reaching 0 Nutrition
Inevitably, some characters will run out of food and Nutrition. Whether it be from inability, lack of preparation, or just bad luck a character that hits 0 Nutrition is in serious trouble. If a character ever does their daily Nutrition reckoning and finds that they are at 0 Nutrition, they simply do not wake up. They are instead considered to Catatonic and can take no actions until they are forced to eat by someone else. A character may persist in this way a number of days equal to their Physical Bonus. After this, they expire.

Energy:

Energy is a numerical representation of how tired a character is. The higher the number, the more rested a character is. The lower the number, the closer a character is to exhaustion. In general, characters fall into these 3 categories, though GM's may wish to define these further:

100-66 - Well Rested | The character is energetic and vibrant, ready to take on the world around them. Tests involving Physical, Social, and Mental Attributes gain a +5 Bonus due to the character's peppy outlook.

65-33 - Tired | The character is cranky and irritable, but otherwise unaffected. A character may persist in this manner for some time with no ill effects.

32-1 - Exhausted | The character is not sharp and appears to be somewhat unaware of their surroundings; apparently content to wallow in their tiredness. All Tests involving Physical, Social, or Mental Attributes take a -10 Penalty due to the character's lack of care about anything, really.

Losing Energy
A character loses Energy at the start of each day under the following circumstances:

Every day that a character cannot sleep a solid 6 hours, the character loses 5 Energy.

If the character does not sleep at all in a 24 hour period, the character loses 15 Energy.

Every day the character is at less than 50 Nutrition, they lose a further 2 Energy.

Every day the character is at less than 11 Nutrition, they lose a further 4 Energy.

Every day a character is at less than 50 Hope, they lose a further 2 Energy.

Every day a character is at less than 11 Hope, they lose a further 4 Energy.

Replenishing Lost Energy
Energy is unusual in the fact that it is very hard to bring back. Days of grating circumstances and bad sleeping habits do not just disappear with one restful day; the person must take time and recover in complete comfort and safety. If a character spends 48 hours in a safe location and gets 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep both days, the character's Energy jumps back to 100. Note: A safe location is considered one where a character is in COMPLETE safety. This means that there can be no external stimuli that would cause the person to sleep unsoundly. In most cases due to the nature of world of 2032, this can only be accomplished if the person is being watched over by someone they trust implicitly day and night. Of course, the other person will become fatigue as well. Such is the price of feeling safe. The character trying to replenish their Energy reduces the amount of hours they must spend in a safe place by 4 hours for every point of Physical Bonus they have to a minimum of 24.

Reaching 0 Energy
If a character does not have any Energy after determining their losses from the previous day, that character is considered Catatonic for 5 days reduced by the character's Physical Bonus to a minimum of 1 day. If they are kept alive during this period, they awaken fully rested and at 100 Energy due to their brain being oblivious to the world around them.

Hope:

Hope is an abstract numerical representation of how high a character's spirits are. The higher the number, the more positive a character's outlook. The lower the number, the closer a character is to giving up living. In general, characters fall into these 4 categories based on their Hope scores, though GM's may wish to further define them:

100-81 - Beacon | A character in this range is a proverbial bubbling cauldron filled with happiness. While some may become irritated, many look on these people and take strength from their example. A character with the "Prodigy" or "Exemplar" occupation in this range is considered to be at x2 for determining the strength of their Abilities. Other individuals are simply cheery and gain a +5 circumstance Bonus to the Social Attribute.

80-51 - Happy | A character in this range simply just is. They aren't overly happy or overly sad; rather they take the world in their stride. Characters with the "Prodigy" or "Exemplar" occupation are considered to be at x1 for determining the strength of their Abilities. Other individuals receive no statistical benefit.

50-11 - Sad | A character in this range is starting to be overcome by the world around them and the sights they have seen. Characters with the "Prodigy" or "Exemplar" occupation may not use "Spiritual" abilities if they are in this range. All characters take a -5 Penalty to tests involving the Social Attribute. Due to early stages of depression, characters also lose Energy at a rate of 2 per day.

10-1 - Despair | A character in this range is deeply troubled by the world around them and have only a short while to rectify their view. Characters with the "Prodigy" or "Exemplar" occupation may once again use their "Spiritual" Abilities. For purposes of determining strength, they are considered to be at x3 as they use the anger and rage inside them to dish out what they see the world giving. Such power comes at a price. Every time a character with the "Prodigy" or "Exemplar" occupations uses a power in this rating, they lose 1 point of Hope until they expire. All other characters take a -15 penalty on Social Attribute Tests. Also of note, Characters in this range lose Energy at a rate of 4 per day.

Losing Hope
A character loses Hope whenever they see the worst attributes of man on display or the horrors perpetrated by RAC's. Losing a well known friend to the myriad causes of death in 2032 will invoke the loss of Hope. Particularly ghoulish sights will also jar even the most hardened of Wastelanders. The GM is in control of how much Hope is lost. To prevent the loss, a character may opt to resist one horror per day by rolling against their Spiritual Attribute with no other modifiers. If they roll under the Attribute score, the test is passed and they lose no Hope. If the test is failed, they suffer as the GM originally intended.

Recovering Lost Hope
Recovering lost Hope is also up to the GM. Should a character witness or perform an act of kindness they will recover lost Hope in direct proportion to the magnitude of the act. It should be noted that apart from the characters performing kind acts, there will not be many opportunities for this to reflect the grim nature of 2032.

Reaching 0 Hope
Reaching 0 Hope is really a sad thing. When this happens, the GM should consult with the player to see how their character "goes" and not make it too specific. In most cases it will simply be that the character has lost the will to live and is permanently Catatonic. In other cases maybe the character just disappears. Regardless of the method, the character is removed from play.

A few random answers to questions that may have popped up during the reading of those rules...

There are a few instances in the Hope system where having a lower Hope score is actually beneficial. This mainly only concerns "Prodigy" and "Exemplar" occupations. These two occupations are the ones that I have designated as the most influenced by the early bits of "Psy" and are the most out there in terms of realism. For characters that see this and want to use it, there will be an Ability called "Creature of Evil" which will effectively turn the Hope system on its head. Such characters cannot go Catatonic and be removed from the game, but they start to display some...side effects. More coming on that. The general idea is that not all characters in those occupations will be content to just safeguard humanity selflessly. A few become power hungry individuals. When you're living at the edge of the laws of the Universe, its understandable.